George Alsop

Who is George Alsop?

George Alsop, an English author, was probably born in London in 1636; the year and place of his death are unknown. Very little about his life is known, except for what is mentioned in his book, which indicates that he was likely to have been born, and certainly spent some of his youth, in London, England.

Alsop is remembered for a significant work on colonial Maryland with a title unusually long even by the standards of the seventeenth century: A Character of the Province of Mary-Land, wherein is Described in four distinct Parts, I The Scituation, and plenty of the Province. II The Laws, Customs, and natural Demeanor of the Inhabitant. III The worst and best Usage of a Mary-Land Servant, opened in view. IV The Traffique and vendable Commodities of the Countrey. Also a small Treatise on the wilde and naked Indians of Mary-Land, their Customs, Manners, Absurdities, & Religion. Together with a Collection of Historical Letters..

After an obscure two-year apprenticeship he left London in 1658 due to a hatred for its local Puritans, according to his own account.